The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-04-22
AN OCEAN TRICYCLE..
Curious LIfe-savinS Machine A Sea vYae-
on Twsnty-seven Feet High.

Curious Life-saving Machine Sea wag-
on Twsnty-seven Feet High.
A tricycle. on which to ride through
and over the breakers which beat on
the Atlantic coast may have been
dreamed of, but that Il would ever be
thought of when awake and sober has
entered into the minds OF few besides
its inventor, a Philaaelphian, who has
secured patent for his invention, and
expects to find millions In it.
The object OF this, probably the larg-
est tricycle. ever built, is not simply FOR
exercise and amusement. as are the
less pretcntious three-wheeled vehicles
but IL is proposed 10 utilize it as means
for the saving of life from vessels
wrecked on the dangerous beaches.
This one will be used by the life-saving
station at Ocean City, and if it proves a
success, as all who have examined it
believe II will others viii Oe built for
the life-saving stations all along the
coast.
The machine may be run by two men
easily, and yet is so strong and so con-
structed as 10 pass through the toughest
water without injury, and without even
wetting the men wh may ride upon it,
except such wetting as may be due to
spray.
=" It can be run out to wreck anv
time" said the man who was super n
tending The wo K OF Luilding the curious
machine, " and it will, beyond question,
revolutionize the present system of saw
ing life on the coast. There nee be no
trouble hereafter In launching the surf
boats, and the motor used for shooting
line across stranded vessels may be
laid aside forever, once this machine is
IN working trim.
Instead OF requiring en- hour or two
to reach wrecked vessel it may be
done on the sea wagon in ten minutes,
and without the least danger. The i'm
perilled crew could be taken ashore on
the machine, If desired In fact, a per-
feet communication between the land
and the wreck will be established, and
absolutely without danger, when this
machine IS put into general use."
The " sea wagon, as the inventor has
named 1t, is composed entirely of iron
and steel. except the small triangular
platform at the top, on which those who
work 1t will stand.
The wheels, which are eight feet and a
half In diameter, are OF steel, and are
placed at the points of a triangle each
side OF which is twenty-four feet at the
top. The frame is a skeleton, the iron
being so arranged as to present as lit
tie resistance to wind and waves as
possible.
The inventor expects the toughest
seas to break through it without doing
the least damage to the machine.
The motive power is by the working
OF two levers at the top platform. These
levers each have two steel rods, which
lead down to the front wheels Of the
tricycle., the tires of which are notched.
A shoe on the end of each steel Iod
catches in these notches and propels the
machine by the moving up and down of
the levers. The rods are SO placed on
the lever that, while one is going down
for a fresh grip, the other is pulling
upward.
By this means the motion is continu-
Gus, and the rate at which two men are
expected to be able to move 1t through
the water is three miles an hour, as fast
as the average gait of walking.
The third or hind wheel acts like a
caster, and, swinging on a pivot, follows
the leading wi eeIs of the tricycle., which
is steered by the levers.
Very few vessels are wrecked in twenty
or more feet of water, and If The g sea
wagon op, rates as its maker expects il
to. it may Ue run out t any stranded
vessel.
A ladder arranged so as to he extend
ed from the top is placed on one side OF
the vehicle, and by this not only Viii the
crew OF the mac ne mount TO the rallied
platform, but crews OF wrecke vessels
may do the same, and be wheeled 10 dry
land. Six men could thus be carried at
a time Philadelphia News.